Very young future investor

[Account Closed]

Hello. I'm 16 and I'm the Boston area. I have been investing in stocks for the last two years but they are very boring and I thought real estate investing seems much more exciting. I don't know much about real estate investing so joined this site in hopes of learning more from the people that are experienced in the subject.

[Shaun Reilly]

Hi Nick!

Wow very impressive that you are taking such an active interest in investing at such a young age. BiggerPockets (BP) is a great place to learn. Read all the articles, listen to the Podcasts and read and participate on these forums and it will be a great education for you.

Also a critical part of real estate investing (REI) is networking and meeting your colleagues. BP is great for that for both locals and people from all over. There is actually quite a good sized contingent from MA here and I'm sure everyone will be more than happy to help you if you are willing to learn.

There are also lots of REI meetings throughout the area that are also great places to meet people and learn. They are in the evenings during the week and generally will have a networking segment, announcements including a "deals" segment where people will talk about things they have or want, a speaker that will talk about a specific topic then usually more networking at the end. Hingham is a pretty good area to get out to things since there are meetings south in Rockland, Taunton, the Cape and BP author @Mike LaCava runs one in Plymouth. Going North there is the Boston AREIA (now in Medford) the Black Diamond REI event in Waltham run by BP regular @Ann Bellamy and going a bit farther @Justin Silverio has been doing a quarterly (The others are monthly) unofficial BP Meetup in Woburn that a lot of locals here have been going to. There are more on the North Shore, Merrimack Valley and NH but these will keep you busy for now. :)

Your biggest issue at this point? Probably that you are to young to legally sign a contract if you find a deal. How supportive are your parents? They can help with that legal stuff if it comes up. You also can concentrate on learning and meeting people until you turn 18.

BTW as awesome as it is you are taking this kind of initiative at your age you ARE still just a kid. Work hard and do well in school, develop your basic life skills and most of all HAVE FUN. This is one of the best times of your life so enjoy it. Highschool can be one of the best and most memorable times of your life so don't miss it by working right through it. You can (and should) do both, just remember to do both.